Brain Development and Drinking Alcohol

by David J. Hanson, Ph. D.

Some people argue that no one should ever drink so long as their
brain is developing. If that were true, no one would ever drink
any alcoholic beverage. The human brain doesn’t stop developing
at age 21 as alcohol activists often proclaim but it continues to
develop and change throughout life.

Research indicates that moderate drinking helps maintain a well-functioning
brain into old age. For example:

A study of about 6,000 Americans age 65 and older in communities
across the country found that moderate drinkers had a 54% lower
chance of developing dementia than abstainers. 1

A study of 15,807 Italians age 65 and older found that moderate
consumption of alcohol greatly reduced the risk of developing
cognitive (thinking) impairment. Abstainers were 53% more likely
to suffer mental impairment than were drinkers. 2

A study of 7,983 people age 55 and older in the Netherlands
found that those who consumed one to drinks of alcohol per day
had a significantly lower risk of dementia (including Alzheimer’s)
than did abstainers. 3

A study of over 6,000 Britons over a period of 35 years found
beneficial mental effects when a person drinks up to about 30
drinks per week, and increases with consumption. The researchers
did not test the effects of higher levels of alcohol consumption.
Abstainers were twice as likely to receive the lowest tests of
mental functioning than were moderate drinkers. 4

A study of more than 400 people age 75 and older in the Netherlands,
who were tracked for a period of six years, found that drinkers
were only half as likely to develop dementia as similarly- aged
abstainers from alcohol. 5

A study of 3,777 elderly French men and women over three years
found that moderate alcohol consumption (two to four drinks per
day, most often wine) reduced the risk of developing dementia
by 80%. 6

A study of over 1,000 Britons aged 65-79 who were monitored
for an average of 23 years found that “drinking no alcohol,
or too much, increases risk of cognitive impairment,” in
the words of the editor of the British Medical Journal,
where the research was published. 7
In other words, moderate drinking reduces the risk of cognitive
impairment.

A Harvard study of over 9,000 women aged 70 to 79 over a 14
year period found that women who drank in moderation performed
significantly better on tests of cognitive functioning. 8

An 18-year study of Japanese American men found that moderate
drinking in middle age was associated with superior cognitive
performance later in life. Moderate drinkers scored significantly
higher on the Cognitive Abilities Screening Instrument (CASI),
which includes tests of attention, concentration, orientation,
memory, and language. Both abstainers and heavy drinkers had the
poorest CASI scores. 9

A 20-year Harvard study of 12,480 women age 70 and older found
that moderate drinkers were much less likely than abstainers to
experience poor memory and decreased thinking abilities. 10

A University of Texas study funded by the National Institutes
of Health found that older women who drank in moderation (up to
two drinks per day) performed better than abstainers on tests
of memory, attention, concentration, verbal-association capacities
and oral fluency. 11

And the list goes on.

Beer, wine and liquor or distilled spirits have repeatedly been
found to be equally effective in maintaining healthy brain functions.

Of course heavy drinking can cause serious health and other problems.
The key is moderation.